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How to pressure wash in 3 simple steps

Fresh curb appeal in 3 easy steps!

Mom life can get so busy that you start neglecting the little things. Then what happens? Yep, those little things turn into big things. Aaaaand then those big things turn into projects. Projects that you need to make time to do when you’re already short on time and the cycle continues.

That’s a little preview into the curb appeal of our home. As I discussed in this article about family bonding, I’m a working mom. The kind of working mom that is away from her child during the day.

With that being said, my time with my kid does not involve chores. It’s a focused one on one quality time with my son. For most working moms in my situation that means weekends too, so that pretty much leaves bedtime and naps for chores.

The chores we focused on were the ones around the house. You know, laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. We completely neglected the outside other than keeping the lawn mowed.

The once white driveway started getting darker and darker. Our crisp white columns on the front porch started to turn green. Eeek, talk about an eye sore!

Make your house a home

Have you ever been so busy with life that your home’s curb appeal takes a back seat? That’s what happened to me and I knew I needed to make time for some simple home improvement.

I believe that taking care of your home is important and that there’s really an element of self care incorporated into a clean, personalized home. In other words, tidying up the place makes me feel better.

I got tired of driving home and missing my curb appeal. When I would drive in after a long day I just wasn’t getting that welcome home feeling that I desired. Has that ever happened to you?

Sometimes your home just needs a little pick me up. This little home improvement gesture has made such a difference for me. The best part is that it is easily achieved with just a few cheap items and any busy mom can do it.

Without success we tried many different cleaners to get the driveway and columns to not only get clean but remain clean over time. We needed something that could keep the outdoors clean over time because we were so busy and didn’t know when we could set aside cleaning time again. Sound familiar yet? I know, this is like every busy DIY mom’s situation lol.

My husband was working on a carpentry job and came across this awesome cleaning solution and suggested we try it. Like I said you only need a few cheap items and I will list them along with the steps below.

Supplies you will need :

A sprayer. You can get a smaller size for smaller jobs, but we like to use one size for as many jobs as possible. We find it to be more efficient and lower costs overall because you can always use the bigger size for smaller jobs.

2. I used the 30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner. You can go here on their website to see all the local places you can find it. They’re even on Amazon! Feel free to use this cleaner without pressure washing. I love the added benefit it gives to my pressure washing projects.

3. Scrub brush. I would suggest you get a few of these for future use. We literally use them all the time for various cleaning projects around the house.

4. A sturdy water hose. We use a 3/4 by 100ft contractor grade water hose because it keeps a more consistent spray. You can really use any water hose that is firm. There are many options to choose from that are less expensive and work very well.

5. Pressure washer. If you don’t already have one, then you can rent one from your local home improvement store. Make sure you request a driveway attachment if you’re pressure washing your driveway as well. If you’re feeling froggy and think you may want to pressure wash on a regular basis go ahead and purchase one. Again, don’t forget the driveway attachment if you need it. You can check your local home improvement store or even Amazon.

Simple 3 Step Process

Step 1

Sweep all of the dust and dirt around the affected areas and off the driveway. You want a clean slate.

Step 2

Add the 30 Seconds Cleaner straight into the spray bottle. No dilution of the spray is needed.

You want to spray the affected area wait at least 10 min

Use your scrub brush here to work that magic cleaner into the tougher areas. We gave the columns a gentle scrubbing and a few spots on the driveway that needed a little extra love.

Step 3

This is the fun part. Using the pressure washer! Try not to have too much fun here. What mom doesn’t love an easy to use power tool?!

Hook up the water hose to the pressure washer and get the water going

Never add bleach to the pressure washer. It will rot the lines out. Water only!

As you use the pressure washer, you want to use a back and forth consistent motion. Don’t use the zero degree pressure washer nozzle on concrete. If you spray for too long in one spot on concrete with the zero degree nozzle it can cause erosion and holes. Use the 15 or 25 degree nozzle depending on the level of dirtiness. The 15 degree is for tougher dirt.

Show and tell

If you’re like me and need a visual to go along with the nozzle sizes, just click the link below for a quick video explanation. You want to watch this to make sure you don’t waste time with the wrong nozzle size!

Revealing the columns and front porch!

Porch columns before

Porch columns after

Revealing the driveway…

Driveway before

Driveway after

Super simple DIY

There you have it! A fresh, polished look to your curb appeal in 3 easy steps. I’m sure there are multiple places in your area to rent and purchase these items. Try seeing if you can find them all at the same home improvement store.

My goal is to give you a one stop shop for these project supplies and make your DIY project as efficient as possible. I personally don’t like driving all over town to get multiple items for one project especially when I’m busy and short on time.

What’s next?

Finally, the next step is to paint and then add some flowers or maybe a vegetable garden! As you can see the paint is chipping away at the bottom of the columns. This cleaning solution and pressure washing treatment combo is a great prep for painting.

Just like you may feel better with a cute new outfit or a little lip gloss, I feel better coming home to a clean house. Sometimes just changing the welcoming appearance of our home helps me leave the work day behind. I’m working on making our structured house have more of a home feel.

What do you do to spruce up your place? Leave me a comment below. I want to know, maybe I can tackle that next!

If you want more simple DIY tutorials like this, sign up for the free resource library below! I will be adding free, easy to follow DIY tutorials for busy moms like you.

Let me know what DIY projects you would like! I want you to be able to tackle every day projects around the house with ease in the shortest time possible. Once you get the hang of it, it’s actually empowering and a lot of fun!